Articles
Maximize The Use Of Your Instruments
August 17, 2010 7:57 am | by Dan Cusack, Superior Surgical, LLC | CommentsMaximizing the use of surgical instruments and ensuring many years of productive and satisfactory performance starts with caring for your instruments. New Instruments - Newly purchased instruments must be cleaned, lubricated and autoclaved immediately before use. Proper Use - Instruments are designed for a specific purpose and should be used only for that purpose Water and Stainless Steel - Tap water contains minerals that can cause staining.
Doctors Need To Become Whistleblowers After Medical Error
August 17, 2010 7:55 am | by Martin Young, MBChB, FCS(SA) | CommentsPerhaps the most important principle in practicing medicine, drummed into medical students and junior doctors time and time again, is to do no harm. Our medical interventions and treatments can be given either too early, too late, or inappropriately, with sometimes terrible and tragic results.
Human Patient Simulation Center Facilitates Medical Device Development
August 16, 2010 8:08 am | CommentsDesigning and developing medical devices is a challenging business, and as America’s health care system evolves, Battelle creators are busy innovating new products. But the hurdles of the industry get higher all the time. That’s why Battelle turns to a hometown neighbor to get the process started easily.
Alarm Fatigue Can Cause Mistakes And Harm Patients
August 16, 2010 8:07 am | by Kevin Pho, MD | CommentsThe hospital is never a quiet place. Walk through the wards on a typical day, and you’ll hear a cacophony of alarms, bells, and other tones coming from both computers and medical equipment. American Medical News recently discussed so-called “alarm fatigue.” They cite a study showing find that “16,934 alarms sounded in [a medical] unit during an 18-day period.
How Good Are Foreign-Trained Doctors?
August 13, 2010 7:17 am | by Pauline W. Chen, MD | CommentsOne night during my training, over dinner in the hospital cafeteria, a fellow resident and I had a discussion about the situation of one of our professors. Known for his blistering teaching sessions, this senior surgeon possessed the uncanny ability to sniff out lapses in memory or judgment among doctors-in-training.
When The Doctor's Always In
August 11, 2010 7:01 am | by Dr. Wes | CommentsThe devaluation of doctors' time continues unabated. As we move into our new era of health care delivery with millions more needing physician time (and other healthcare providers' time, for that matter) -- we're seeing a powerful force emerge -- a subtle marketing of limitless physician availability facilitated by the advance of the electronic medical record, social media, and smart phones.
Today’s New Physicians Are Unable To Improve Patient Safety
August 10, 2010 7:23 am | by David Nash, MD, MBA, FACP | CommentsIt has been 10 years since the landmark Institute of Medicine report “To Err is Human” uncovered disturbing deficiencies in the quality of our nation’s medical care. Progress in correcting these deficiencies remains frustratingly slow, and it has become clear that achieving the quality and safety improvements we seek will require us to examine our approach to medical education.
A Certain Age
August 9, 2010 7:24 am | by Bruce Campbell, MD Medical College of Wisconsin Otolaryngologist | CommentsFor myself I am an optimist — it does not seem to be much use being anything else. -Winston Churchill August 9, 2010 Even before I met him, I could tell that his cancer was extensive. His problems had started several months before with a cough, a voice change, and some trouble swallowing.
Metastatic Cancer And The Matching Walkers
August 6, 2010 7:26 am | by StorytellERdoc, MD | CommentsThey made a regal couple, the elderly man and woman sitting in Room 19. She was the patient, he the supportive husband. She sat in the treatment cot while he sat in a chair pulled near her bedside. Together, they greeted me with their warm smiles as I walked into their room. They both had full heads of healthy, silvery hair that shimmered from the overhead fluorescent bulbs.
Familiarity
August 3, 2010 6:21 am | CommentsWe say we exchange words when we meet. What we exchange is souls. -Minot J. Savage It was Monday evening. The shelves in the electronics department overflowed with different styles, prices, and brands of headphones, all displayed in sealed plastic cases. I was in the mood to buy but was baffled by the array of options in front of me.
Greed Can Mend a Broken Heart
July 28, 2010 7:58 am | by Kim Ukura, Associate Editor, PD&D | CommentsGreed drives innovation in industry. While I might not always like it, when it comes time for me to deal with a serious medical condition, I want as many treatment and non-treatment options on the table as possible. July 28, 2010 In “What Broke My Father’s Heart,” a piece in New York Times magazine a couple weeks ago, journalist Katy Butler writes about how an implanted pacemaker kept her father’s heart ticking long after the rest of his body was ready to go.
A Lonely Calling
July 26, 2010 7:15 am | by a Medical Resident | CommentsTo walk along the water’s edge and be away from the hospital, even for a day, is relaxing. My breathing here is slower, deeper. When I look back on residency thus far, I can hardly believe how much has changed. Central lines slide into the internal jugular with ease; I slip breathing tubes just below the epiglottis and curve upwards into the vocal chords almost as often as I place a straw into a cold glass of iced tea.
Exclusive Q&A: Surgical Display Systems
July 23, 2010 1:17 pm | Sony Electronics | CommentsAs surgery becomes less invasive, facilities must ensure they have the adequate imaging and surgical display technology for surgeons to perform these procedures. Here, Surgical Products speaks with Anne Bondulich, Marketing Manager for Surgical Products at Sony, who discusses new advances in surgical display systems and what facilities should know when purchasing this technology now and in the future.
Closing The Gap
July 23, 2010 8:02 am | by Amanda McGowan, editor | CommentsIt’s clear among the surgical community that an increasing number of surgeons are embarking on the single port surgery approach. From the cosmetic benefit of virtually hiding the incision scar in the umbilicus to the potential for reduced pain and a quicker recovery, benefits of this new technique are becoming more apparent.
